Tour de Bière 2011 Debrief

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As everyone’s livers recover from the 2011 edition of SF Beer Week, I wanted to give you folks a debrief on the inagural Tour de Bière. The ride was to benefit the East Bay Bicycle Coalition (EBBC), and I think we did pretty well.

We did what we could to keep costs down and the EBBC will soon be receiving a check for $720, 96% of the revenue collected.

One reason we were able to keep costs down was the tremendous support from the East Bay breweries who opened their doors to us at no cost. Those five gentlemen from Trumer? They gave up their Sunday morning to help make Tour de Bière happen. Same goes for the Bicycle Coffee Co folks and the owners of Linden St. These businesses gave us their time and wares in support of the ride. Triple Rock and Pyramid Berkeley were both generous with their discounts and freebies.

The event wouldn’t have been a success without all of you who attended. The ride sold out nearly a week before the event, which was much sooner than expected. Thank you for your support and for helping us raise funds for the EBBC. For those of you who had never ridden with The Grand Cru before, make sure to keep in touch:

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March’s ride details will be posted within a week…stay tuned.

Photos from the 2011 Tour de Biere

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Thanks all for coming out for the 2011 Tour de biere.  To sum it up: great weather, great coffee, great beer, great people, great ride.  Once again, thanks to all who participated – the riders, the bicycle coffee company, trumer braueri, linden street brewery, triple rock brewery, pyramid brewery, and of course, the EBBC.    Serious generosity and serious good times.

Here are some photos from the tour.

riding up market street to triple rock

Image 1 of 30

riding up market street to triple rock

riding up market street to triple rock
chatting at trumer
bicycle coffee company french pressing
trumer guys
more bicycle coffee co
trumer tour begins
trumer tour
tastings
chatting in the tasting room
trumer guys
linden street brewery
bikes, lined up
more bikes
linden street: what a cool space
linden street
doggie~!
triple rock was crowded for sour sunday
abyss by deschutes
who\'s pink cannondale is it? envious.
pouring at pyramid
scrabbley.
good night, pyramid!
taking off towards linden street
pedestrian bridge
berkeley aquatic park
berkeley aquatic park
riding up market street to triple rock
riding up market street to triple rock
adam from linden street talking about.. beer.
triple rock head brewer guy

Photos from January’s Ride | Santa Rosa & Russian River Brewing

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January’s ride was probably our biggest ride ever. We had almost twice the people we were expecting. It was a surprisingly wet and rainy day, but the scenery and the beer and food afterward made it worth the sogginess.

bianchi, diamondback, cannondale in blue and silver and white

getting ready to roll out

cruising through santa rosa

the joe rodota trail

crossing through sebastapol

a short break at burnside road

Super foggy.

I think this is the “ready for beer inside” face

church in bodega from “the birds” on the extended route

well-deserved beer and food with a foggy haze due to my rainy camera

the flight of russian river beers was about 17 deep

January’s Ride | Santa Rosa & Russian River Brewing

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So you resolved to live a healthier 2011. You decided to get out of the city more often to enjoy the bay area’s beauty…well, The Grand Cru’s here to make that happen.

This month we’ll be doing our annual pilgrimage to Russian River Brewing – one of the most respected breweries in the world. We’ll be riding a 35 miles loop based out of Santa Rosa exploring the area west of Sebastopol. As an added bonus our path conveniently routes us in front of Hopmonk Tavern. (Probably a good place to rehydrate.)

Bike route 785005 – powered by Bikemap

As is often the case, I’ve set up a poll to determine the date that works for the most people. Please follow the link in the box below and mark your availability.

The poll will close the evening of Monday, January 10. That night I’ll post the finalized date.

I hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start and I look forward to riding with all of you in 2011!

Cheers,
Israel

P.S. Worried that those post-ride Plinys will blow your new calorie budget? Well, Vinnie’s got you covered with a new line of beers. Pliney-lite has the same hop wallop in just half the calories!

November’s Ride | Hayward & The Bistro’s Barrel Aged Beer Fest

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Original photo by ali.schmidt

This month we’re back in the East Bay to visit The Bistro. “But the Bistro’s not a brewery” you’re saying? Well, you’re right – but we’re going to cut them some slack because they’ll be hosting the 5th annual West Coast Barrel Aged Beer Fest on Saturday. If you’re unfamiliar with barrel aged beers – you’re in for a treat. The gamut runs from hearty imperial stouts aged in bourbon barrels to mouth puckering lemonade-like beers aged in oak. Tickets run a bit steep. I don’t know what the pricing will be this year, but I don’t expect much of a change from last year: $40 for ten pours and a tasting glass, with additional pours costing $2. If that seems expensive – well it is. But keep in mind that these beers take a long time to produce and are often labor intensive. If you’re hesitant about diving in, the Bistro will have a few non-barrel aged beers to be purchased individually.

Since we’ll be doing some advanced beer drinking I’ve tried to strike a balance with an easier 19 mile ride up one of the Hayward hills. It’s a long and gradual climb with a great decent back to barrel aged goodness.


Bike route 750251 – powered by Bikemap 

As usual I would encourage everyone to take public transit over to The Bistro. It’s located just three blocks from the Hayward BART station. It’s extra encouraged this month as many of the beers aged in old spirit barrels clock in above the 10% mark.

Looking forward to riding and drinking with ya’ll on Saturday!

Cheers,
Israel

P.S. Please note that the roll-out time’s been shifted back an hour to 11 instead of the usual noon o’clock. I don’t want us to miss out on choice selections because of a late start.